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During truefire's recent 'back-to-school' sale I picked up a copy (-instant download) of Matthieu Brandt's "50 Jump Blues Licks You Must Know." I enjoy learning them. I've always enjoyed this style of music, but I'm not as well versed in it as I am in some other blues styles. Hence this thread.
First, a paragraph from wikipedia: >>> Jump blues is an up-tempo blues usually played by small groups and featuring horns. It was very popular in the 1940s, and the movement was a precursor to the arrival of rhythm and blues and rock and roll.[2] More recently, there was renewed interest in jump blues in the 1990s as part of the swing revival. <<<<< Jump blues - Wikipedia
You like jump blues?
Who are some of your favorite players?
What are some of your favorite songs / recordings?
If you were to attend a jump blues jam session, what would you expect to hear called?
Post clips! ;o) (I will too.)
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09-18-2015 10:36 AM
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A few samples from the early days. (None of these are guitar-centered recordings. I'm sure we'll get to that....)
Here's one I first heard covered by Aerosmith. (Was that on "Toys In The Attic"?) Bull Moose Jackson and his big ten inch....record.
And Big Joe Turner doing "Shake, Rattle, and Roll".
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My introduction to Jazz music came via Jump. I was a real Blues head in my early-to-mid teens, but everyone was telling me I should get into Jazz. Jump and post-war Swing aided that transition. Louis Jordan, Big Joe Turner and mid 40s Jay McShann are all essential listening, even though you're not going to hear much in the way of guitar (except this track):
More Swing orientated guitarists of that era who I loved (and still do I suppose) were Oscar Moore, Irving Ashby, Slim Gaillard & John Collins.
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saunders king…
cheers
junior watson…w stratotone!
cheers
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Here's a lesson in jump blues comping by Tommy Harkenrider. I really enjoyed this one. (I don't know Tommy and haven't bought any of his lessons, but this is a nifty quick lesson in comping.)
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love slim gaillard!! esp slim & slam with the equally great slam stewart…(who played with art tatum!)
cheers
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tommy harkenrider with kid ramos…recent
cheers
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Nice! Thanks.
Originally Posted by neatomic
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Here's Slim doing "Cement Mixer" on a TV show.
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Wynonie Harris:
Roy Brown:
Jimmy Liggins:
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I posted this in the Hollywood Fats thread but it belongs here too.
Here's a video lesson (by someone else) on how to play the intro / opening chorus. It is tasty.
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T-Bone Walker, Early BB King, Tiny Grimes, Count Basie, Dinah Washington.
John
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As I mentioned in the Hollywood Fats thread, I recently picked up Matthieu Brandt's 50 Blues Licks You Must Know. I'm enjoying it: Matt's a good player and a good teacher. I sent him an email for a short list of must-know jump blues tunes.
He wrote back and mentioned the following (-as well as some that have already been mentioned here and some others I haven't found videos of.)
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Jump-Blues is basically the progenitor of what came to be known as Rhythm & Blues in the 1950s.
For jump-blues guitar, anything you learn from Charlie Christian can carry over. Most of the guys who were playing in the small Jump groups were swing players who didn't go down the bebop path.
Some players who are "required" listening are Bill Jennings, Billy Butler, Carl Hogan, Tiny Grimes and Johnny Moore.
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Actually "jump blues" was one of the sub styles of blues that got me into listening to jazz guitarists and jazz in general a couple of years ago.
The entire Louis Jordan catalogue is jump blues par excellance (spelling?)
As is a lot of B.B.King's recorded output.
Funny that you posted Dave Spector - he's an old buddy of mine since we met in the 80's. Fine player.
One of the ultimate jump blues tunes is Louis Jordan's "Ain' that Just Like A Woman" - couldn't find a version with the guitar part of Carl Hogan. That's where Chuck Berry picked up a lot his own guitar style.
When it comes to contemporary players we'd have to mention Duke Robillard :
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Yea, very true. Learn some Charlie Christian solos, understand the concept of playing notes of the chord shapes, and improvisisng Jump Blues tunes becomes a joy! One thing, its a very "licks"based genre of guitar playing, which might bother some, but for me it's great. Because those licks are so cool and catchyand so fun to play, and no matter how many you know, there are always more! I just watched a few videos above, and even though I thought I knew all those little chords and tricks, I found a lot of stuff I can add and use, even for jazz standards. Those turnarounds, arent they awesome! Originally Posted by monk
Also as far as learning material, I found Paul Pigat video 'Jazzing up Your Blues" (or something like that) very helpful, and still coming back to once in a while.
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[QUOTE=...Some players who are "required" listening are Bill Jennings, Billy Butler, Carl Hogan, Tiny Grimes and Johnny Moore.[/QUOTE]
Johnny Moore - Oscar Moore's brother.
The Three Blazers also included Charles Brown.
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Another cool thing about Jump Blues is the TONE guitarists getting there! I call 'dirty but clean', slightly overdriven, but still clean enough for chord work. I think jazz guitarists should carry it over to the mainstream jazz too. When I hear today jazz guys playing with this extra clean sterile tone with tons of ambiance, I stop listening, there's nothing in it for me. Jump Blues is where's at, that's the sound to get excited about!
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Both Tommy Harkenrider and Kid Ramos played with James Harman. Ramos followed Hollywood Fats in that band. Originally Posted by neatomic
Was fortunate to see both many times when I lived in LA. HF was before my time there but folks still talked about him over a decade after he passed.
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Originally Posted by Hep To The Jive
That's exactly what I liked and like about a lot of Grant Green's recordings - a lil' bit of sizzle on top which you wouldn't hear from any other jazz guitarist.
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I agree, Monk, though I would add that jump is also the progenitor of rockabilly and rock and roll too. Originally Posted by monk
As for the usefulness of Charlie Christian lines, I have a motto about that: "Where Charlie don't fit, I quit." (By the way, have you read Weidlich's new book "Trading Licks" on Charlie Christian and T-Bone Walker? It's climbing up my wish list....)
I assume this is Billy Butler with Bill Doggett on "Floyd's Guitar Blues."
Might as well throw in "Honky Tonk". I know this is Billy. One of those solos many aspiring pros learned note for note.
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It's all about the notes you choose on the turnaround.
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Ha! There's a lot to that. Originally Posted by Stevebol
One thing I like about jump blues is that you can flash up the comping and slide the chords around. Love that shimmer. And soloing informed by those chords and subs give the stuff a swinging edge that really gets me.
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I would assume Floyd Smith. He worked with Doggett in the early 1960s. He also worked with Wild Bill Davis in that period and, according to allmusic, recorded FGB's with him. I haven't made an exhaustive search, though. Originally Posted by MarkRhodes
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About "The Hucklebuck". Is it or is it not Charlie Parker's "Now's The Time"? (Minus lyrics, of course, but the version above is done without vocals, so...) Originally Posted by Stevebol
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Junior Watosn picked up his version from Earl Hooker's recording of that tune - recorde in 1952 if my memory doesn't fail me. Originally Posted by MarkRhodes
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I think this fits in----can't listen to blues for too long without wanting to hear some harp!
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If this is so then allow me this pure vanity post: Originally Posted by MarkRhodes
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Tiny had it going on! Originally Posted by GuitarGerry
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Red Prysock's "Hand Clappin'"----just the thing for a Saturday night. (Well, there's Louis Jordan's "Saturday Night Fish Fry" but I think we've already covered that one.)
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Some Charlie Christian in a boogie-boogie vein. Great two-chorus solo.
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To me Jimmy Liggins' Cadillac Boogie is one of the best. Bullmoose Jackson's stuff is pretty over the top with innuendo but he's got some cool arrangements like Bowlegged Woman. Wynonie Harris is pretty great too.
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one of my fave youtube clips ever…the great amos milburn… some of the fast woogie...the host can't stand still!! haha
cheers
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Thanks for the tip! I hadn't heard "Cadillac Boogie". Originally Posted by jasonc
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Listening to "Cadillac Boogie" I thought of two other songs: Vince Taylor's "Brand New Cadillac" (-which the Clash famously covered) and Commander Cody's version of "Hot Rod Lincoln."
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Originally Posted by MarkRhodes
two killer trax those…the great uk session man joe moretti (rip) played the guitar lick on the vince t…and of course kirchen on hr lincoln..two stellar players!
cheers
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commander cody gets dismissed as a goofy bunch of longhairs..but they were great players..and tapping into a genre long before it was hip.. and great vintage song selections..their originals were darned good too
joe moretti also played on johnny kidd & pirates-shakin all over and restless…also tom jones-it's not unusual…there's a even a great clip of (a very young ) him playin with gene vincent..he was (one of?) the best early uk guys
great moretti overview for thems that care..(one of my fave's)
Joe Moretti: Session guitarist whose work graced a string of hits - Obituaries - News - The Independent
cheers
& oh yeah..kirchen still out there..tele in hand
heres pretty recent clip with old bud-luthier de
Last edited by neatomic; 09-20-2015 at 08:12 PM. Reason: ps-
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"Send for the doctor, make you feel so good.
Do more for you than any man in this neighborhood...."
Tell, it Doc.
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Some Johnny Otis:
Lotta early rock likcks here!
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oh yeah johnny otis was key key figure in west coast jump blues, r&b,even later r&r etc etc..socal..he was a musician, bandleader, club owner, record label guy, early tv host, musicians union leader, discoverer of so much talent..he's huge in influential scope..a prime mover...but not all that well known
and his son shuggie is/was one heck of a guitar player!
in his golden days he had a radio show up in norcal..out of his beloved sebastopol..he was great until the end..knew everything and everybody..real old school hipster!!
cheers
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this is a killer lp compiled from johnny otis' tv show…his band would back the original artists live..so you have new versions of joe turner doin shake rattle n roll, or richard berry louie louie..but with otis' great tv band backin…good stuff
Last edited by neatomic; 09-22-2015 at 10:01 PM.
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Great genre and tradition. Can't beat early BB King and Gatemouth Brown as some of the more popular acts of the era. I lived near Westerly, Rhode Island and was exposed to frequent heavy doses of jump blues by Roomful of Blues w/Duke Robillard. These guys were/are dedicated to preserving the tradition, and as mentioned, Duke is one of the living contemporary masters of the style. I did a private gig this summer, one of the other acts was Chris Vachon, the current Roomful guitarist for the past 25 years.
A 1980 track with the great Ronnie Earl on guitar.
Last edited by cosmic gumbo; 09-23-2015 at 02:54 AM.
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Another fun Duke Robillard tune, "Too Hot To Handle." (Not to be confused with the song Otis Redding sang...)
Duke teaches this one at "Sonic Junction" but if you've been playing awhile, you probably don't need any help with it. Still fun.
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gatemouth was musical director of 60's music show out of texas-the beat
here he is swingin on a classic rickenbacker!!…pre hendrix gypsies billy cox played bass
cheers
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The Beat show was incredible and the 6 or so DVD sets are well worth seeking out for old school R&B and Blues. I know some folks that worked at WFAA in Dallas at the time. If I recall, the show originated in Nashville. Hoss Allen, the host was a Nashville DJ and an important figure in promoting early R&B and Gospel. They recorded the show in Dallas because the Nashville facilities could only shoot in B&W.
Here's Louis Jordan from the same series:
And while not strictly Jump, the Freddie King appearances on the same shows kill me every time. Makes me want to get a 345/355:
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wow, great show indeed! Two of my favorites, and the house band is killing it too! Sombody somewhere said its Gatemouth Brown on the solidbody in the band? Freddies tone is to die for, where do they teach to play guitar like that? Its seems more fitting to say he's "attacking" it, rather than "playing"! Originally Posted by hanktx
I think I was born in the wrong time, too late. The music, even how they dress, it's just speaks to me. There's very little today that I enjoy like that.
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heres another great performance from that show..barbara lynn killin it w gatemouth on the ric
cheers
ps and yes thats gatemouth on the white fender jaguar backin louis jordanLast edited by neatomic; 09-23-2015 at 12:50 PM. Reason: ps-
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So cool, I've been working on "What'd I Say" this week. Such a fun tune. Originally Posted by neatomic
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I dig the way Duke arranged the horn section for guitar on this recording. Haven't found out how to do it yet:
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